Apparatus for mounting warp-stop detectors in looms



05. 51, 1950 H. MEIER 2,527,755

APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING WARP-STOP DETECTORS IN LOOMS Filed April 50, 1947 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Get. 31, 1950 H. MEIER 2,527,755

APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING WARP-STOP DETECTORS IN LOOMS Filed April 50, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 87 v 130 I 15 Fly. 2 a 0 I'm 9;: 135 m BIZ l1, I36 i 1 I97 I I l-8 "*2; n: I! 1 I0 a I; .9 51; i l [I3 '2': E la, a 5 I12 no I18; I z 9/ 6! 7 G) (g gl 8 v 67 ,2 as T 92 2&"5'6' 92' f Oct. 31, 1950 H. MEIER 2,527,755

APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING WARP-STOP DETECTORS IN LOOMS Filed April 30, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet s Oct. 31, 1950 MEIER I 2,527,755

APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING/WARFSTOP DETECTQRS IN LOOMS Filed April 30, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented st. 31, 1950 APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING WARP-STOP DETECTORS IN LOOMS Heinrich Meier, Uster, Switzerland, assignor to Zellweger A. G., Apparate-und Maschinenfabriken Uster, Uster, Switzerland Application April 30, 1947, Serial No. 744,851 In Switzerland May 3, 1946 11 Claims.

My present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for mounting stacked open-ended detectors on warp threads in looms.

Detector-mounting arrangements are known in the art, in which the divided detectors are caught in chutes from which they slide onto the warp thread brought or positioned underneath the chute outlet. Such gravity arrangements do not operate positively, as the detectors are not positively mounted onto. the warp threads. The capacity and thus the efliciency of gravity arrangements, further, ,is limited insofar as the mounting rate depends on the time of drop reby hand, whereby the efficiency of the arrange-- ment is impaired or jeopardized.

The outstanding object of my improvements is to afford an apparatus which eliminates the said deficiencies, by means of which the detectors are positively located or mounted onto the divided and properly positioned warp threads, whereby errors of mounting are eliminated.

One form of invention is shown, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a side View and a section on line I-I of Fig. 3,

Fig. 2 is a side view and a section on line IIII of Fi 3,

Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly in section,

Fig. 4 is a plan view and section on line I V-IV of Fig. 1,

Figs. 5-10 illustrate the movement of the divided detector up to the point of being mounted on the warp thread,

Figs. 1ll4 illustrate the movement of a warp thread which has been divided or side-tracked from the warp, inclusive of mounting the detector and carrying, onward the warp thread, and

Figs. and 16, show a loom step-motion when the detectors have been properly divided or, respectively, when the detector to be divided is missing.

Two beams or rails 2, 3 are mounted above and transversely of the warp I which is Stretched sure spring 32.

across the frame of the loom in the same position as for weaving and are interconnected at their ends to form a frame. A group of guide rods l, forming a constituent part of the warp-stop motion appurtenant to the loom, are disposed below the warp l. The warp threads a, al, a2 are separated, as known in the art,

from the warp threads b, bl, b2 by means of two lease rods 5 so asto cros thread a by the adjacent threads b, and so on. Wheels 1l0 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) are journaled to the case 6. Wheels 9 and It are provided with rim flanges which are engaged in a guide groove formed by rail 3 and a rack ll secured to the latter, and thus guard the carriage against lateral dis-- placement. A pinion l2 meshes with rack II, and is connected with a feeler by means of levers and pawls so as to move the carriage stepwise, as known in the art, (such as is described for example in the U. S. patent to Magnano, No. 1,512,704) along rails 2 and 3 in accord with the presence or non-presence of warp threads.

The electric motor l3 (Fig. 1), flange-connected to the case 6, drives the worm-wheel I5 over a worm M and thus, the worm wheel axle it. A clutch portion H is fastly secured to the free end of the latter. The other clutch portion 58 is axially displaceable on the shaft l9, and is provided with a neck and a brake cone 20 which is engageable with the brake ring 2! fastly secured to case 6.

The motor 53 is turned on, and shaft I 9simultaneously coupled to worm shaft H5 in the following manner:

The switch handle 22 is swung on its pin 24 toward the control contactor 23. When hitting the right-hand dog 23'', the axle 23' is axially displaced, thus establishing a circuit between contactor 23 and-motor l3, and rotating clutch portion H. When operating handle 22, clutch portion 68 is brought up to clutch portion I! by means of link 25, bell-crank lever 26, push rod 29 and bell-crank lever which is engaged in the' neck of clutch portion 18 with the aid of pres- When rocking bell-crank lever 25, which is loaded by spring 28, and pin 26 secured thereto, on pivot 21, the four-arm lever 38 is pivoted on the pin 40 against the action of a spring M. Pin 26 (Fig. 16) then abuts against a notch 38' of lever 38, thus preventing clutch portion it from sliding back when the operating pressure on handle 22 ceases and keeping the two clutch portions in engagement. By swinging the trip handle 35 toward contactor 23, lever 38 is rocked by means of the link 31 which is pivoted at one end to trip handle 35 and at the other end to a lever 28. Notch 38 then releases pin 26' and the abutment 33 fixed to push rod 29 is brought to bear against the one arm of bell-crank-lever SI under the action of spring 28, and clutch ll, I8 is disengaged. Brake cone 20 thus is urged into engagement with brake ring ZI, biased by spring 28, and the mechanism stopped. At the same time the contactor handle 22 is swung back into its initial position, also biased by spring 28, abutting against the lefthand dog 23", thus displacing the axle 23' to the left and breaking the motor circuit.

A bevel wheel -22 and a pair of spur wheels 42, ,45 are pinned to shaft I9. Bevel wheel 42 meshes with a corresponding wheel 53 which is pinned to the axle 39 (Fig. l) and permits of starting the mechanism by means of a hand wheel (Fig. 3) fixed on shaft 39, when the said mechanism is disengaged. Spur wheel 44 transmits its rotation, over the spur wheel 46 and the cylinvdrical cam 41' secured thereto, onto the shaft 48. A cam disc 49 and a spur wheel 59 connected therewith, are pivoted on shaft .8, and wheel 55! meshes with spurwheel 45. Shafts I9 and i8 ro tate at the same speed, whereas cam disc 49 and spur wheel 58 aregeared at a ratio of 1:2.

.flThe thread divider 52, known per se in the art, is secured to thelcase S by its bearing 53 above the crossing point of warp threads, a, al, a2 and 1), HI, b2. Divider 52 is oscillated by a curved 'track' on cam disc 49, in which the roller link 52 .is engaged. The latter at its opposite end is en- 'gaged in the slot of a forked lever 55 which is pinned to the hollow shaft of the thread-dividing element 52. Roller link 54 is mounted on the pivot 56. A cam lever 58 is pinned to the pivot 5! secured to case 6, and at one end co-acts .with a curved track of the said earn 4?, while its ;other.end is forked to engage the knuckle joint 59. The latter is pivoted on an axle 60 which is longitudinally displaceable in a central bore of the .divider 52. A sickle-shaped plate 6| is mounted on axle 6i! and may be moved into a recess provided on the free face of divider 52. Plate 6|, when the apparatus according to my present invention is in operation, also is oscillated besides being axially displaced, which oscillation is transmitted by divider 52.

A control lever 63 (Figs. 2, 4) is mounted on the pivot 52 secured to the arm 5' of case (5. One arm of lever 63 is engaged in the curved track provided on the cylindrical cam (55, and a second armdisposed underneath the said first armis adapted as bearing for a pivot E5 on qwhich an auxiliary lever 66 (Fig. 2) is mounted. The freeend 66' of the latter is engaged in a con- -trol.slot 6'5 (Fig. 3) provided on a plate 6?. The other end of pivot 55 is provided with a lug 58. Ihe cylindrical cam 64, which is pinned to the pivot 69, is driven, as shown in Figs. 4 and l, by

, t he bevel.wheel TE! meshing with bevel wheel 42 which has the same number of teeth. When cam '54 rotates control lever 63 is intermittently oscillated. Since the auxiliary lever 65 attached to pivot 5.5 is guided with its free end 66 in the control slot 61' of plate 67 the pivot 65 has-an intermittent rotational movement imparted to it and thus imparts to the lug 68 a movement out of'the vertical into the horizontal and back.

A bevel Wheel 13 is pinned on the end of shaft 48, projecting from case 6 (Fig. 1), and drives, over a bevel wheel 74, the axle 75 onto which a roller- 16 (Fig. 2) is pinned. The latter serves for moving the divided detector arriving from above. A pressure roller I9, co-operating with roller 16, is driven by a spur wheel ll (Fig. 3) meshing with a spur wheel I8, and is pivoted on the straps 80, 8I. Roller I9 is made of elastic material, to be capable of yielding by the thickness of the drop detector when taking up and advancing the latter. The peripheral speeds of rollers .76 and I9 are identical, i. e. correspond to the speed of the detector at the moment of its delivery to the conveyer and pressure rollers for further advance. Axle I5 drives a cam shaft 85, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, by means of the spur wheels 82, 83 and 84. The gearing ratio of wheels 82 and 84 is such as to bring the number of revolutions of cam shaft 85 into accord with that of shafts 48 and I9.

The eccentric strap 88 mounted on axle S5 drives, in a manner known, the master drum 88 (known per So) by means of eccentric rod 87 (Fig. 3), lever, and ratchet. Further, cam 89 is mounted on axle 85 and co-acts with the supporting lever 99 which is biased by a tension spring 9!. A retainer 92 is pivoted to the free end of lever Mi, and a fixed stud 93 (Fig. 2) is engaged in the slot 92' thereof. The tip 92 of retainer 92 undergoes a timed vertical reciprocation when the apparatus is in operation. The cams 85-98 and the eccentric IUB (Fig. 3) also are pinned to axle 85.

The cam 95 (Fig. 3) imparts an oscillation to the lever m2 (Fig. 2) journaled on shaft I22. This oscillatory movement is transmitted through agency of connecting member I9 3 to the arm I05 which is rigidly connected with shaft I05. The movement of shaft I06 imparts to lever IO'I, whose free end has the shape of a hook, an oscillatory motion. The spring I03 serves always to urge the lever 992 against the cam 95. The eccentric Hi9 (Fig. 3) actuates the eccentric rod I88, which oscillates on the stationary pivot IE9 in slot ice. The tip at the foot end of rod I88 thus describes a curve for the purpose of gripping the divided warp thread and bringing same up to the retainer 92. The swing lever H4, pivoted on an axle H3, undergoes an oscillating movement, brought. about by the co-operation of cLuved disc 96 with the lever l Ill (Fig. 3) and the link H2 which is loaded by the tension spring HI (Fig. 2). Swing lever H4 is provided with a slot lid for receiving a stud H5 which is secured to a gripper arm I I6 fastly mounted on axle H3. The said oscillating movement of swing lever l is, is transferred by way of axle H3, onto the gripper arm H8, through the intermediary of the tension spring I I I which is connected with its second end to arm I I6, the bottom edge of slot H4" serving as abutment for stud H5. Gripper arm i it, when required, thus may perform an additional oscillation of greater amplitude (as defined by the length of slot H4) by virtue of an upward force biasing arm H6.

The stop lever l I! is fastly secured to. axle I I 3, i. e. it forms a bell-crank lever together with gripper arm H8. Axle H3 is borne for rotation on the standards H3. The control lever I2! (Figs. 2, 5), fastlysecured to the axle H9 and biased by the tension spring I26, imparts a translatory movement (besides the said oscillation) to the gripper arm I iii, in co-operation with curved disc 97.

The feeler arm E23 and the link E25 which is biased by tension spring I24, are fastly secured to the shaft I22 (Fig. 1) which is journaled in case 6, viz. in such manneras to make feeler arm i23 coact with stop lever Hi, and link with the curved disc 98. Link I25 is connected to the four-arm lever 38 by the connecting rod I26.

A link I28 is pivotally connected to a bellcrank lever I 34 (Fig. 1) which is biased by the tension spring I21 and co-acts with the curved disc 99. Link I28 terminates in a tip and is guided on a pin I29 by means of a slot I28. The blade I3ii provided with a cross-arm ISB', is pivoted on link I23 (Fig. 1), and normally abuts against the stop I32 under the action of spring I31. When the apparatusis in operation, link I 28 and blade I39 are vertically reciprocated. As soon as the tips of link I28 and blade 13% have passed beyond the threads 1), hi, b2, blade I36 is rocked by virtue of cross-arm I36 abutting against a stationar stop I33.

A pawl I36 (Fig. 2 and Figs. 5-10) fastly mounted on the shaft I 35, is moved, by way of an arm I31, by the stud I38 secured to eccentric rod 81. Arm I31, biased by the tension spring I39, is limited in its upward, rocking movement by a stud I 'iEi' acting as stop. Six parallel detector rails I45 are fixedly connected to case 6, and receive a stack of warp-stop detectors each, presenting an inclined slide face to the latter. The detectors Idl sit, with the, web separating the open-ended slot from the closed slot, astride on the rails ME. The foremost detector M1 of the respective stack contacts, with its head-end portion, the dividing device I45 which is known per se and thus not further described here. The said foremost detector abuts against an abutment l lii integral with rail let, and the entire stack thus is prevented from sliding down the incline, when the foremost detector is removed from its stack, as will be described below. A guide plate I 33 is disposed transversely of the detector rails Hi6, and its slots I d8 receive the dogs It? and H5 provided within the range of the individual detector-rails I 15; Thedivided detectors Iti are fed to the roller pair 16, 1% along the guide plate I48. From the rollers, the detectors are mounted onto the divided warp threads and onto'the guide rods 2, intermediate of the guide elements I58 secured to a spreader I49. Leaves Ids are provided on the lower portion of spreader plate M9, disposed in the path of the detectors M1 and splayed from the plane of the spreader so that one leg of detector i 11 slides over the spreader in its natural position, while the other detector leg is spread by the splayed leaf I59, thus permitting a positive mounting of the detector onto the thread.

The arrangement described operates as'follows:

The thread divider 52 separates, in known manner, the foremost thread a from the warp, and moves same in front of the face of divider 52 and thus into contact with the sickle-shaped plate 5 I. Lug I53 on the free end of pivot 65 then is horizontal above the threads a, M, a2 in order to clear the path for the thread a to be divided. The retainer or check 92 prevents the threads which already have been provided with detectors I 41, from sliding back into the path of lug -68. The eccentric rod I98 now is in an intermediate position (Fig, 11). Therail I23 with blade I3?) is at rest in its upper-terminal position shown in Fig. 1.

Plate BI is axially displaced into the position shown in Fig. 12, by means of the cylindrical cam 11 and by way of the. intermediate lever 53, knuckle joint 59 and axle and thereby moves the thread a on lease rods into an intermediate position, in which plate a]; remains until thread a has been provided with a detector I4 1. Retainer 92 and lug 53 remain in the position shown in Fig. 11, while the eccentric rod I98 has been moved into another intermediate position. Immediately after plate 61 has reached its intermediate position according to Fig. 12, rail I28 is moved vertically by cam 95 and by way of bell-crank lever IM; and the tips of rail I-28 and blade I30 drop between the threads a and b. As soon as the said tips have been moved past the threads b, M, 272, blade I38 is rocked and thread a is brought in front of the tip of lug 68. The latter first is rocked into vertical position, its tip pointing downward, and swung into the terminal position shown in Fig. 13. Retainer 92 has not changed its position, while the tip of eccentric rod 38' has moved over thread a into aposition rearward thereof. Thread (1 thus has been singled out over the entire width of detectormounting and accurately located, and remains in such position until a detector M1 has been mounted thereon. The eccentric rod H38, having arrived to the rear of thread a, then moves thread a and the detector M1 mounted thereon in front of retainer 92 which, for the'purpcse of clearing the thread path, has been moved upwardly. As

soon as the'thread is positioned. in front of retainer t2, the latter again drops back into its lower terminal position, thus preventing the thread from snapping back (Fig. 14).

'The head end of the frontmost detector I41 1 separated from its respective stack on rail Hit by virtue of control drumv 38 co-operating with detector-divider M5, which motion is known in the art. According to Fig.5 the gripper arms I01, H6 are in their initial position, while pawl I36 is in its upper terminal position, wherein it releases the detectors I41 at their upper end. Ac-

cording to Fig. 6, gripper arm I01 starts to oscil-- late and engages the-toprim of the closed slot of the frontmost detector I41 which to such end has beenseparated from its stack'by means of divider I45. Gripper arm H5 has undergone a translatory movement and, therefore, engages -abovelug I46 of detector rail I46the bottom rim of the said closeddetector slot. The respective detector M1, now, has been located on action-oi spring I I I, the detector I41 being positively held fast by arms I91 and H6 during such lifting operation. In order to prevent the nextfollowing detector in the head of the stack from beingtaken along by the detached detector in its upward movement, pawl I36 is automatically swung back into its bottom terminal position, thus pushing back any detectors in the head of the stack which might have been partly dragged forward (Fig. 7).

Gripper arm I I6, now, undergoes a translatory movement, drawing detector I 51 toward the guide plate I43, i. e. forward over lug I45 of rail I46 (Fig. 8). Gripper arms IIS and IE1 are turned clockwise through such angle as to let the detector I 41 still held thereby be engaged by the roller pair 16, 19. Since the lever lll1continues its movement until it engages in the slot of the guide plate I 48 (Fig. 2), the detector It? will be released by it as soon as the pair of rollers IS, IS has properly engaged the detector. The latter then feed the detector I41 downward over the spreader plate I49. On the latter, detector I41 is biased by virtue of the splayed leaves or ears I49 and temporarily splayed in the manner provided for its positive mounting onto the thread a held in readiness therefor (Fig. 9).

The detector then is fully ejected from the roller pair I6, I9. Pawl I36 remains in its initial position, while gripper arms IIB'I and H6 return into the initial position (Fig. 10). V

In order to assure that a detector actually is mounted onto each warp thread, means are provided for stopping the mechanism when the detector-separator has not divided a detector. When the frontrnost detector of the stack is being regularly detached and lifted by gripper arm I01, the abutment arm I II is turned through such angle by the gripper arm IIB moved along with arm I [ll that feeler arm I23, in spite of being biased by spring I24, is prevented from falling into the recess on the curved disc 98, as arm I23 then abuts against arm I I I. The two coupling portions I'I, I8 (Fig. therefore, remain engaged and the apparatus remains in operation.

When, however, no detector has been separated (Fig. 16) gripper arm IOI will still oscillate. Ow ing to the missing detector (which otherwise serves as connecting link) gripper arm HE is not taken along by gripper arm IIII. Arm I I5 thus is not rocked, and link I therefore falls into the peripheral recess of curved disc 93' by virtue of spring I24; Such engagement will rock the fourarm lever 38 by way of link I26 (which now acts as tension rod), tripping stop 26' of bell-crank lever 26, and also rocking bell-crank lever SI by Way of push bar 29, owing to the action of spring I The two coupling portions I'l, Ii! thus are disengaged, and friction cone 2!! is pushed intobrake ring 2I, thus immediately stopping the machine. By actuating handle gzaccordingly,

coupling II, I8 is engaged again, and the operathis stage shown in Fig. 15 is re-established. Rails I are of such slope that the detectors stacked the apparatus transversely of the warp are, as

known in the art, not further described and shown.

' What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for individually and positive- 1y mounting open-ended warp-stop detectors from a plurality of stacked detector columns onto the threads divided from the warp, comprising, in combination with a warp-dividing motion, a guide plate, abutments adjacent said guide plate a detector-separating motion, and an electric-motor driving arrangement including starting and stopping means and clutch throwout and throw-in means, said detectors each being provided with a closed slot, a detectorgripping motion associated with each said column and adapted for engagement in the closed detector slot to temporarily hold and lift the detector over an abutment into contact with a guide plate and then release same, a roller pair associated with each said column and disposed below the said guide plate and adapted to receive and feed the detector downwardly, and a spreader plate disposed below the said roller pairs and provided with a plurality of splayed ears, one for each column of stacked detectors, and adapted to deflect one of the detector legs so as to mount the deflector astride of the divided warp thread and to loosely engage the appurtenant warp-stop rail by its two legs.

2. In a detector-gripping motion set forth in claim 1, a pair of gripper arms or dogs oscillatable on a pivot each and adapted to engage the detector in its closed slot for lifting the frontmost detector of the stack, which has been separated therefrom by the known detector separating motion, vertically upward so as to clear the said stack-column abutment, one of the said gripper arms additionally being adapted to perform also a translatory movement to draw the detector forward into contact with the said guide plate.

3. In a detector-gripping motion set forth in claim 1, a pair of gripper arms oscillatable on a pivot each for the purpose described, one of the said arms being adapted, further to perform a translatory movement for the purpose of drawing the detector forward into contact with the said guide plate, and also to perform an additional oscillation subsequent to the first oscillation and the said translation and spring means for resiliently biasing the said motions.

4. In a detector-gripping motion set forth in claim 1, a pair of gripper arms oscillatable on a pivot each for the purpose described, one of the said arms being adapted to also perform a secondary oscillation, besides a primary oscillation and a translatory movement, and means co-operating with the said electric-motor driving arrangement for the purpose of stopping the entire apparatus in case when no detector has been separated from the appurtenant stack.

5. In a detector-gripping motion set forth in claim 1, a pair of gripper arms oscillatable on a pivot each, one of said arms being further adapted to perform a translatory movement and an additional oscillation subsequent to the first oscillation for the purpose described, spring means for resiliently biasing the said motions, and a curved disc-and-lever gear adapted to stop the entire apparatus when the detector-separating motion has missed in detaching a detector from a stack.

6. In a detector-gripping motion according to claim 1, and in combination with the appurtenant detector-separating motion, a controlled pawl adapted to restore any stacked detectors which might have been carried along by the detector to be separated from the stack, into their initial position.

7. In an apparatus for mounting warp-stop detectors from stacked detector columns onto the divided warp threads, set forth in claim 1, a supporting rail for each said column, and a lug integral with each said rail and adapted to hold back the detectors until they are engaged by the said detector-gripping motion, thereby at the same time properly locating them with respect to a detector-separating motion of known construction; the said rails being sloped so as to let the stacked detector column slide forward by gravity until stopped by the said lug whenever the foremost detector is separated from the stack.

8. In a detector-gripping motion defined in? -detectorsof the class described and in combinaclaim 1, a pair of rollergcoroperating'to'feed the detector, after having been released from the said gripper arms, downwardly onto the said spreader plate.

9. In an apparatus for mounting warp-stop detectors of the class described and in combination with a detector-gripping motion set forth in claim 1, a spreader plate having leaves splayed from the plane of the plate for the purpose of spreading the open-end legs of the detectors.

10. In an apparatus for mounting warp-stop detectors of the class described and in combination with a detector-gripping motion set forth in claim 1, a warp-separating motion comprising a lug adapted to be swung lengthwise of the warp threads, intermediate of the separated and the non-separated threads, and simultaneously to be oscillated from a horizontal into a vertical position and vice-versa, for the purpose of defining the operative location of the separated thread, to be provided with a detector, with respect to the said spreader plate.

11. In an apparatus for mounting warp-stop HEINRICH MEIER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,215,789 Field et a1 Feb. 13, 1917 1,512,704 Magnano Oct. 21, 1924 1,811,206

Magnano June 23. 1931 

